The film opens with Emma, played by Brit Morgan of True Blood, in the midst of taking a pregnancy test. When the test comes back positive, the distraught young woman decides to hide the news from her boyfriend as they embark on their camping trip together. It is apparent from the start that Emma is uncomfortable with the news, as well as the camping trip, as she remains cold and distant from her excited and optimistic boyfriend.
Once the couple arrives at their destinationa vast snow-covered campground surrounded by treesthe pair hop aboard their snowmobile and ride off into the woods, setting up their tent in a secluded area.
After questioning her boyfriends abilities and being openly miserable about the trip, Emma decides to go along with whatever he offers, joining him on a ride on the snowmobile to look at the sights that surround the area. The ride goes horrible wrong and the couple crash, leaving them stranded in the woods. The trip worsens from there when the couple begins being stalked by a stranger lurking around their tent.
The Frozen started off slow and remained slow all the way through. The main characters are unlikeable, especially Emma who does nothing but complain and sulk during the beginning of the film. The lack of chemistry between the couple only adds to their unlikableness as the movie continues, making it hard to watch them work through their issues and try to make it out of the situation safely.
Although there wasnt much to work from, the acting wasnt particularly exceptional, either. The boyfriend, played by Seth David Mitchell, sounded like he was reading his lines off of cue-cards every time he spoke, making the interactions between him and Morgan feel forced and unnatural. Morgans acting wasnt a complete mess and there were a few scenes, like a scene where she speaks to her unborn baby, which worked really well in the film and helped to carry the movie just a little further. Despite her efforts to hold the movie on her shoulders, there wasnt much for her to go with and nowhere for her to take it.
The storyline becomes repetitive and boring as we watch Emma cry, get scared at a noise, run around, and sleep. There were a few instances where more could have been delivered to the audience to produce a frightening experience; however, the filmmakers dragged the situation out too far, making things uninteresting. When things do finally happen, the explanation isnt exciting or new enough, making the film feel like a recycled horror movie.
The uncreative title alone makes the movie unappealing from the get-go but when the twist is revealed at the end, which was easily predictable from the moment the couple have their accident, the film lost all credibility as a horror movie. The lackluster finish made it seem like director/writer Andrew Hyatt didnt even try to deliver something decent to horror fans and that he assumed we would like anything with a somewhat appealing heroine, a creepy setting, and occasional music to produce jump scares.
Not only did the movie feel thrown together, it has similarities to a few other films such as Frozen and Wind Chill, only weakening the movie even more. If the film had done more to establish its own identity, worked on being more subtle about the plotline, and had actually given the audience something exciting to watch, The Frozen would have been worth viewing.
The progression of the film with the lack of a payoff is one of the movies downfalls and if Hyatt had focused more on establishing better characters and storyline rather than trying to come up with a twist ending, the movie most likely would have been better. But, he didnt and the movie fails to deliver. Skip The Frozen unless you want to watch an unoriginal tale about an unlikeable character who literally does nothing for 90 minutes.
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